Announcing Web School Cincy!

The Windup…

The number of “paid apprenticeship” schools has experienced a bit of a surge
recently, especially in web development, and specifically those
teaching Ruby on Rails. This phenomenon is due largely to the realignment in
the work force from material workers to information workers.

We’ve seen the demand for tech talent grow steadily and we’re beginning to
feel the pinch ourselves. Recruiters are becoming a more frequent “guest” at
Cincy RB which is kind of a new thing for Rubyists, at least locally, and it’s
not only recruiters but companies sponsoring meetings in order to pitch to
attendees. We see this as a good problem to have but a problem nonetheless and
one we feel capable of helping to address.

Gaslighters have established a tradition of teaching, from the inaugural
Cincinnati Day of Ruby, to
mentorship of students at several local high
schools. We’ve spoken at regional and national software developer conferences
and host the Cincinnati iOS, Javascript and Ruby user group meetings each
month. From a training perspective, our current focus is the formation and
guidance of the Cincinnati Web Tech study group which aims to introduce Web
development to those who have an interest in the subject and provide support
for their desire to explore the subject in greater depth.

About a year ago, we began kicking around the idea of a gSchool-like program
here in Cincinnati but we were busy doing many things and really had no desire
to own the program. So we asked if anyone else was interested in partnering
with us to launch a program and Scott Barron from Neo’s local office said to
count him in. Erin Kidwell, then of Girl Develop It said to count her in. Mike
Bott of The Brandery said he was interested too. So we all got together and
started talking but despite our best intentions little else happened. Then we
talked to Jeff Casimir, co-creator of Hungry Academy and gSchool and it became
evident that if anything were going to be done we simply had to stop talking
and start doing.

The Pitch…

So, in the spirit of “good artists borrow, great artists steal,” we are
actively working to launch a full-time six month training program here in
Cincinnati with the aim of graduating 24 competent Web developers twice a
year. Our desire is to welcome the first class before the end of this year,
2013. The program will operate in and around a vibrant Rails consultancy,
Gaslight’s new (and hopefully soon to be announced) location in downtown
Cincinnati. This may seem like a bold plan but we have little doubt there is an
urgent need for it and have faith that our community will respond to this
announcement.

Our goal is to create a program that will meet the needs of our community and
not simply our own. To be frank, there was a point when we didn’t understand
that but Erin and Mike drove that point home. We hope to produce young
developers with fire in their bellies and a desire to build something awesome
who will team up with entrepreneurs at The Brandery, Cintrifuse or NKU’s
INKUBATOR. We also want to attract career change minded 30 and 40 somethings
seeking the stability of product work with one of the many companies in our
region clamoring for Rails talent. We especially hope to reach veterans
looking to transition to a civilian career in a growth industry that is as
rewarding as serving their country. Perhaps most importantly, we want to
attract students in under-represented socio-economic groups. Who knows, maybe
we’ll even find a hippy or two wanting to join us at Gaslight.

So we’re seeking sponsors and students for Web School Cincy.
Don’t worry, that’s just a working name. You can sign up today and we’ll keep
you in the loop with all the latest developments. Just visit
signup.webschoolcincy.comand leave us
your email address or email us at info@webschoolcincy.com
and tell us how you’d like to be involved.